Office of the President calls the Russian Federation’s decision regarding Azov Regiment legal nonsense
ALONA MAZURENKO — TUESDAY, 2 AUGUST 2022, 21:21
Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President, considers the decision by the Russian Federation to label the Azov Regiment a "terrorist organisation" legal nonsense, because the Ukrainian defenders [of that unit] operated exclusively within the territory of Ukraine.
Source: Podoliak on Telegram
Quote from Podoliak: "It sounds a little strange: a country that is one step away from being recognised as a state sponsor of terrorism and that violates all the rules and customs of war labels a unit a terrorist organisation…
Any decisions in Russian jurisdictions regarding Ukraine or its military personnel will have no legal effect internationally and will not affect the negotiation process regarding the exchange of prisoners of war.
The decision by the Supreme Court of Russia (even if it sounds somewhat wild) does not affect anything at all and is a purely internal propaganda product.
And I will reveal a secret to the luminaries of ‘Russian law’: there has been no volunteer Azov Battalion at all since 2014."
Details: Podoliak emphasised that Azov is a special forces unit that is part of the 12th operational brigade of the National Guard.
Azov is a part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that has observed all aspects of conducting hostilities and clearly defended the territory of Ukraine: "The Azov Special Forces acted exclusively within the limits of legal competence. The Russian courts’ jurisdiction does not in any way extend to the territory of Ukraine, and therefore the ‘decision’ is legal nonsense."
According to Podoliak, the decisions taken by Russian courts will not have any consequences in the area of international law.
At the same time, Russia should be officially recognised as a terrorist state, particularly given its illegal use of domestic jurisdiction to mask the deliberate violation of the rights of prisoners of war.
The adviser to the head of the Office of the President emphasised that Russia's decision is a profanation, because Russian jurisdiction does not extend to the territory of Ukraine and to the actions of Ukrainian citizens protecting their state.
In addition, any decisions taken by the courts of the Russian Federation regarding the war in Ukraine and on the territory of Ukraine are illegitimate from the point of view of international law.
Podoliak suggests that the Russian Federation needs such decisions purely for internal propaganda use.
Background:
- The Supreme Court of Russia has labelled the Ukrainian volunteer Azov Regiment a "terrorist organisation" and banned its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation.
- After being labelled as a "terrorist organisation" in Russia, the Azov Regiment said that the global community should recognize the Russian Federation as a terrorist state.
- The National Guard, to which the Azov Regiment belongs, believes that one of the goals of the war for the Russians is killing of the Ukrainian defenders of the Azov Regiment, and therefore they invent terrible stories about them and have decided to label them a so-called ‘terrorist organisation’.
- Recently, the Russian Embassy in the UK tweeted that the killing of the soldiers of the Azov Regiment was justified and that the Azov fighters "deserve a humiliating death".
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